Beloved friends, family, and supporters of Blessing —

Some of y’all may have noticed my absence on instagram.com and subsequent removal of my catalog off of Spotify and other streaming services.

My decision to remove my work from streaming services is a direct response to Spotify CEO Daniel Ek’s chairman role and investments in Helsing, an AI military defense company.

While I don’t have much more to add to what has already said regarding how heinous and nauseating this is, I’ll just state how ABHORRENT I find it. Abhorrent.

In our current climate of capitalism and entertainment — it’s impossible to live a life completely sheltered from these evils. However, whatever evils I can have control over and actively resist, I will do so. I know my contribution to Spotify’s overall commercial gain is, of course, non-existent. However, hosting my work on it is batting a blind eye and aligning myself to the evil that it is sewn into the fabric of the platform.

Spotify has been known to be deeply problematic regarding their investments and treatment of artists for years now. Looking back, that should have been enough for me to draw the line as a music lover and artist.

This wave of AI military tech nonsense taking over the world having ties to the music I know and love is especially disheartening as a lover and maker of electronic music.

Technology used for electronic music production (like all technology) began in the military industrial complex. It is important to acknowledge this history but also praise the warm hearth that has come from the development of experimental and electronic music over the past 60 years that harbors a vibrant community of creativity, inclusivity, expertise, and talent. I see the use of AI in music and Daniel Ek’s nonsense taking the genre and music as a whole three (thousand) giant steps backwards.

As an artist who relies a lot on digital applications, its extremely important to me that I reject all forms of AI in my work and life.

Along from this, I have been thinking a lot about what it means to host my work on streaming platforms in general. This has weighed on me and my sense of artistic integrity ever since I started sharing my work online. A major part of my practice is to subvert notions of passive listening and commodification that is present in the current landscape of music. Having my work live on platforms such as Spotify directly contradicts this.

Blessing can still be found on very select platforms like (the still imperfect) Bandcamp and Soundcloud. I will still be making sound with physical releases and installations. After being a Spotify user for 12 years, I have cancelled my subscription to transition to more ethical listening practices.

My anxieties regarding AI, algorithms, and media overload have been making me extremely depressed lately, to the point where it is unbearable. Our minds are collapsing. (Is this dramatic?)

While I know millions share these same opinions as me, I don’t see anything that may inspire meaningful change in how we interact with technology, communication, commerce, and the culmination of all three any time soon (at all).

Subscribe to my mailing list if you want to stay updated on what I am doing and any new work I decide to share. I am currently working on uploading my visual body of work to share as well. I am currently working on a lot of projects after taking a small break and excited to post them to my tiny corner of the internet. I will be using my website in a different way moving forward and planning to make it a much more active and creative page rather than dead air for self-advertisement.

I urge you all to join me in this decision — not one only about personal conviction, but about living a more intentional, present life. Actively reject AI, resist the evil forces that make us complacent puppets, reject passivity, be mindful of what you consume, take care of your mind the way you take care of your body. Feed it well and it will serve you right.

NO MORE AI NO MORE ALGORITHMS NO MORE BILLIONAIRES NO MORE CEOS NO MORE WAR

CANCEL YOUR SPOTIFY SUBSCRIPTION

With love and peace,

Brette